Hollow metallic body.



, NO- 795,870; PATENTBD AUG..1, 19h05. r. A. voBLKE.

HOLLOW MBTALLIGIBODY. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20.A 1904.

2 sums-'SHEET 1.

PATBNTBD AUG. 1, 1905.

P. A. VOBLKE. HOLLOW METALLIC BGDY.

vAPPLIGATION FILED n.17. zo. 1904.

SHEETS-'SHEET z.

l I --I I l l l l l INVENTUR:

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOLLOW METALLIC BODY.

Specification onf Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1905.

Application filed lmlllary 20, 1904. Serial No. 189,855.

To all wil/0711, t puny cm1/067111,.- i

Be it known that I, FRED A. VonLKE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tipton, in the county of Tipton and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closed Hollow Metallic Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to closed hollow me- .tallic bodies, and has for its object to produce bodies of the character described that are comprised of a plurality of seamless integral layers, of which each has the form of the article and all together constitute a single shell.

The articles herein described and claimed are those which are produced by the process set forth and described in another application that will be filed at or about the time when this application is filed.

The inventions herein set forth and claimed also include means for strengthening such articles of the kind described as are required to withstand either compression from without or stresses applied from within which are calculated to burst the article and also include internal braces for such articles.

The process which forms the su bject-matter of the other application referred to describes the construction of hollow articles which are seamless and yet completely closed and which are built up with a plurality of seamless metallic laminte each of which has the form of the integral article. Said application, furthermore, describes a process which the laminae are disposed one upon another and so united that theyT constitute a single shell.

Referring to the drawings filed herewith, Figure l shows in perspective an article of the kind described which is adapted for use as' a float. Fig. 2 shows a cross-section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 shows a cross-section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. L shows the brace employed in the floatshown in the figures just referred to. Fig. 5 represents, partially in section, a vessel adapted to resist bursting stresses; and Fig. 6 is a section on .the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Yin place within the shell.

suitable molten metal or its alloy and subjecting it to an electrolytic bath. In the said application for a patent for the process it also describes the way in which the strengtheningpieces and the braces are embedded in posi.- tion within the core so that they will be in proper position within the shell when the latter is formed and so the electroplating will cover said parts also, thereby securing them In the said application for a patent on the process attention is also drawn to the fact that the several layers of the articles formed as aforesaid by electrolytic deposition and dipping in molten metal of the character therein described builds up a shell in which the different laminas or layers so formed are knit together, so as to constitutea single integral shell, by reason of the fusion of the metals of adjacent layers. In the said application for a patent on the process it is also shown how closed hollow seamless articles like those describedin said application can be made in various and many forms, according to the requirements of the use to which they are to be put, and how they may be varied in thickness of shell and in the manner of strengthening and bracing. l The Hoat represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 has a shell comprising three seamless integral layers, each of which has the form of the article. These are respectively the inner shell 1, formed by deposit in an electrolytic bath, the next outer shell 2, formed upon the iirst shell l by dipping. it into a suitable bath of molten metal or its alloy, and the outer layer 3, formed like the first b v electrolysis. Each one of these three layers is seamless and integral and has the form of the article. The layer 2 is blended with the layer l during the process of dipping the shell, when it consists of the inner layer 1, into the molten metal, so that the shell constituted of layers l and 2 is practically one integral shell. Upon this shell the outer layer 3 is deposited by electrolysis, and, as in every case where a metal is deposited electrically, the layer 3 thus deposited adheres to and unites closely with the surface of the layer 2 upon which the deposit is made. y

The article shown in the first three figures represents one that must withstand compression, and is accordingly provided with strengthening-pieces 4 and 5 and a brace that extends across the interior of said articles from one of said strengthening-pieces to the other. The strengthening-pieces are repreas placed diametrically opposite to each other and as screwed upon the ends 7 and 8, respectively, of the brace. One of the plates 4C 1s represented as having a neck 9, and all three of the layers 1, 2, and 3 are formed upon this neck and are respectively integral with the surface of the article itself. The neck 9 is represented as threaded internally at 10 in order that it may be attached to the apparatus with which it is to be used.

Then one of the strengthening-plates, as 4,1 is made with a neck, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2` 'the position of the neck within layers of the shell tends to retain the strengtheningpieces and their braces in proper position within the article; but in addition to this the plates are held in place by the connectionbetween the plates and the inner electrolytic deposit 1, for, as stated above, said deposit is madefdirectly upon said plates.

Fig. 3 shows a brace which may be used, if desired, in addition to the strengtheningplates and brace described. This brace consists of a ring 11, hub 13, and radial arms 12, connecting said ring with the hub. There is a central perforation 14 in the hub, adapted to receive the brace 6. This transverse brace is screwed upon the brace at any desired point and in any suitable manner. In the drawings it is represented as attached to the brace 6 midway of its length.

An oblong figure is shown in Fig. 5 whose shell is comprised of a plurality of seamless integral laminae or layers of the character described with reference to the float shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and which is also represented as provided with strengthening pieces or plates 17 and as having 'a diametrical brace 18, like those described above; butin addition thereto the oblong article shown in Fig. 5 is represented as constructed without a neck for attachment and as strengthened to resist bursting stresses. The plate 17, and, if desired, a similar plate at the other end, (not shown,) is attached to the diametrical brace 18 in any suitable manner. ln the drawings it is represented as screwed upon the threaded end 19 of said brace. The electrolytic lamina or layer 15 is deposited upon the plate 17 in the manner described above with reference to the iioat shown in Fig. 2. An additional strengthening-piece 20 is then attached tothe end of the brace 18 in some suitable manner, as by being screwed upon the threaded end 19 of said brace, and is adapted to fit snugly upon the electrolytic layer l5. The brace 18 is represented as bored longitudinally and then transversely, so as to make a passage into the article for the purpose of subjecting the core to compressed vair while it is being formed and for the further purpose of removing the core from the electrolytic lay.er 15, when the latter has been deposited, in accordance with the process described in the other application.- The bore is closed by a plug' 21. The outer surface of the plate 2O has the proper contour for the end of the article that is to -be constructed. When the strengthening-pieces 20 2O have been placed upon the respective ends of the article as before described, the outer coating 16 is formed thereon by dipping it into a bath of molten metal of the character described above, so that an integral seamless layer is formed over the electrolytic layer 15. and the outer plates 20, constituting, with the layer 15, one integral seamless shell, as described above. Fig. 5 also represents two transverse braces which are similar to the transverse braces shown in connection with Fig. 2 and which consist, respectively, of a hub 22, having a perforation adapted to receive the brace 18, the ring 23, conforming to the inner face of the layer 15, and radial arms 24, connecting said ring and said hub. These transverse braces may be located at any desired points upon the brace 18 and are secured thereto in any suitable manner.

lt is obvious with respect to the article shown in Fig. 5, as well as that shown in Figs, 1 and 2, that the shell may be built up by electrolytic deposit and dipping to anydesired thickness. It is also obvious than when the article is braced against bursting stresses the shell may be built up in the same way to any desired thickness both before and after the strengthening-pieces 20 or similar pieces are put in place. Furthermore, it is clear that the strengthening-pieces and braces may be placed in articles of the kind described of many forms or shapes and may be located at any desired points therein and yet be within the scope of this invention, whose essence is that the article, whether or not it is strengthened or braced, shall be ahollow closed metallic body and whose shell shall consist of a plurality of layers or laminae each of which is seamless and has the form of the article and all of which together are so united or connected that they constitute a single integral shell that answers the above requirements.

hatl claim is-w 1. An article of manufacture consisting of a closed, seamless, metallic shell, and a transverse brace contained wholly within said shell, and extending across its interior between two points on its inner surface, and attached to said shell by the deposit of the metal of the shell upon the ends of said brace,

a closed, seamless, metallic shell, a transverse brace contained Within said shell and attached to the sides of said shelLand a ring-shaped brace supported by the brace first mentioned, at rightv angles thereto, that engages the inner circumference of said shell.

' FRED A. VOELKE. Witnesses:

O. W. CHRISTIE, JOHN M. OGLE. 

